Forgotten Soul
by Saphrea
Summary: Chara demanded one thing in exchange for resetting the world: Frisk's soul. But now Chara offers another deal, throwing Frisk back into the Underground with a terrible task. And there is only one person left in this broken world who can help...
1. Chapter 1: The End

**Forgotten Soul**

Chapter 1: The End

...

In the end, I was killed in an accident.

This wasn't how things were supposed to be. I was just trying to escape, to flee the fate I'd chosen for myself and my world. I wanted my friends, my family, and my loved ones to be happy. Of course, if I'd truly wanted that, maybe I shouldn't have killed them in a past life. Maybe I should have been less cruel, less curious, and less determined.

But I wasn't.

I barely recall why I did it now. I killed them all to find the answers, to pry out and examine every path, every secret of my own private playground. And there, always there, was Chara to trace my steps, to whisper encouragement, to grow stronger with every cut. Only in the blackness of the abyss did I see the truth. Only then was I sorry.

And Chara offered me a deal, a fair exchange for recreating the world.

It wasn't like I was using my soul anyway.

But there was still some shred of my conscience left after resetting the world and finding everyone alive. There was still some part of me that could feel something for them. This one last time, I wanted to give them a happy ending.

Standing at the sunset, I felt something more. Hope. I felt hope that this was enough, that even without my soul, I could be happy with them. I became an ambassador. I moved in with Toriel and called her 'Mom'. I grew up.

With time moving on, I forgot what it felt like to have a soul, and, little by little, the emptiness inside faded. When I finally entered college as both a student and an occasional lecturer, I thought that my past was behind me.

I was wrong.

It happened between writing an essay for Trans-Oceanic Economies and preparing notes for a presentation on Interspecies Sociopolitical Policies of the Modern Era. I was working into the early hours of the morning when I stopped to rub my temple and rest my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, I looked down in confusion at the photograph of me standing with my family and friends. The red pen I had been using on my notes was still in my hand. It was poised over Asgore's face, having scratched it beyond recognition and leaving behind only a red blur and indents from pressing too hard into the photo paper.

In fact, all of the faces had been scratched out. All but mine. For me, there were only red marking over my eyes, and small red circles on my cheeks that looked almost like a blush.

"Chara."

I regretted the name as soon as it was spoken. After all, it didn't matter when or where; Chara always came when called. There was a demonic laugh that echoed in the back of my mind, and I dropped the pen.

I did not finish any more work that night. I gathered my things and packed a small bag. It would hurt to leave without saying goodbye, but I couldn't risk seeing anyone face-to-face right now. I wasn't sure what I, or Chara, would do. It wouldn't help, either. They'd ask why I was leaving, and what could I say? Could I tell them that I'd chosen to end their lives, that I was a soulless monster, that another soulless monster could take possession of me at any moment and kill them all?

I told myself that they would be better off if I just vanished.

Of course, Sans caught me before I could finish my getaway. It was unfair how he could do that to me, that he could know when I needed him most.

"planning on working the graveyard shift?" he asked lazily as I opened the trunk of my car. I spun around to look at him. My hand went to my hip. I looked down in confusion. I did not recall taking the knife from the kitchen. I did not recall tucking it in the waistband of my pants. I did not recall tightening my hand around the hilt until my knuckles went white.

I looked at Sans.

Sans looked at me.

And he knew.

"Sans, please…" I cleared my throat and willed my hand to release the blade. "Please, I need your help."

Soon I was on the road, driving to nowhere. I didn't live to see the sunrise.

As I lay on the side of the road, having been thrown from the smoldering wreckage of my car, I wondered how this had happened. Was I too tired from a sleepless night of working? Or had Chara taken one final stab at revenge for my attempted escape?

At least I hadn't hurt anyone else this time.

And then I opened my eyes to see the loading screen.

Continue.

Reset.

I hated those words.

Kneeling down onto the green grass, I tried to think. Resetting the world wouldn't change anything. Chara would still be there, and even breaking the barrier and setting everyone free would not help me regain what I'd so willingly traded away. I'd give anything for one more chance. Ha, that's what got me into this mess in the first place. I always wanted one more chance. But chances no longer mattered. Chara would destroy whatever I tried to build. There would be no escape for me, neither in life nor in death…

I looked up at the words floating in the blackness.

Continue. Reset. No escape.

I didn't want to kill my friends. I didn't want to be a child again. I didn't want to continue. I didn't want to reset. I just wanted everyone to be happy.

I stood slowly and approached the words. In the space between, I raised my hand and moved it in a circle, like trying to clean a dirty surface. This was a trick I'd learned many, many deaths ago. I could create a window into the world and see time progressing on without me. As the blackness solidified into colors, I thought of Toriel. And there she was, sitting in a chair and dozing with a snail cookbook in her lap. I thought of Asgore and saw him watering the plants on his porch. I thought of Alphys. I thought of Undyne. I thought of Papyrus. And I thought of Sans.

I thought for a very, very long time.

I'd been planning for years on what to do when I died again. Even if I died of old age, I was sure I would still wind up here. It wouldn't be fair to force the world to relive my own lifetime over and over again into eternity. One day, I would have to make a choice. One day, I would have to walk away. It was time to go. I turned my back to the words and stepped into the darkness.

And the abyss swallowed me whole.

…

TBC


	2. Chapter 2: Echoes to Eternity

Forgotten Soul

Chapter 2: Echoes to Eternity

Note: I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up. Computer issues are always terrible.

...

Each step in the darkness was much the same as the last. There were no reference points to judge distance or time. I walked. And I walked. And I walked. I stopped for a while. I sat. I laid down on ground that was neither hard nor soft. I stood. I walked. And I walked. And I walked. I spoke to myself to pass the time. Snippets of songs, stories, famous quotes, lectures I'd given, anything to occupy my mind in the dark.

At some point I began to recite conversations, both the ones I'd participated in, and the ones I'd overheard. I certainly recalled the ones from the Underground well enough. It was nice to remember, to call up the images of my friends and family and to walk the paths I loved so much. It was nice to live the life I'd left behind without dragging everyone else down through eternity with me. They were somewhere else, living a life without me. I was at peace with that.

I recited every line of dialog I could recall from the Underground. And then I did it again. And again. I recalled every path a hundred times, even the one I would rather forget above all others. I was partway through a pacifist recital when I stopped. Did Sans offer me a hotcat or a hotkit? I struggled with it for a long moment, or perhaps it was a long year. Eventually I realized that it didn't really matter and moved on. There were more stops like that, more gaps, places where dialog did not quite match with the time or place.

Scattered across space and time…

When had someone said that? It didn't quite fit anywhere, so perhaps it was my own thought for once. I shrugged and I walked.

The gaps in the timeline grew wider and more varied. I began merging timelines together, battling Sans within a pacifist route or performing on Metatton's shows when the rest of the Underground was dust beyond the screen. Papyrus spoke with Undyne's voice and Asgore greeted me in the ruins instead of Toriel. I wove entire worlds like this until they were frayed and spliced to the point of nonsense. Broken. Errors.

At one point, I thought I heard Sans calling me, speaking words that he never spoke in the timelines. I listened, and I even called out. I don't think he heard me, though. And, after a while, his voice faded. Sometimes it would return, briefly. Eventually it stopped.

And I walked.

Until I didn't.

I didn't walk because there was something blocking my way. It was…green. Yes, green. The color. How long had it been since I'd seen green? There were words too. It took me a long while before I could recall their meaning.

Continue.

Reset.

Oh, I was back. The darkness had not taken me, at least not completely. I felt something then. Hope or despair or maybe a mix of both. I'd made this choice a long time ago and I'd expected to never face it again. Now I was given another chance. A chance to betray everyone once again. I thought about opening the window again, just to see. But seeing them now would be a reminder of everything I sacrificed. It might be enough to make me return, to condemn them to the Underground once again, to force them through an eternity of loops within my lifetime. Turning away was harder this time, but there was less to fear. I knew what waited in the darkness now. Infinite darkness. Madness. It was a comfortable existence in its own way. And the ones I loved would still be happy. They, at least, could be free.

I didn't make it two steps before I heard a voice.

"Stop."

The command was harsh, authoritative, and angry. I turned. Green. Yellow. Red.

Chara smiled, humorless and mad.

"I've been waiting for you, Frisk," it said. "I knew you couldn't stay in the dark forever. I've. Been. Waiting."

I tried to summon anger or fear or any other appropriate emotion to meet the thing that had taken my soul, but all I could muster was a bemused sort of apathy. It felt so long ago, like stumbling the first few steps on a journey of a thousand miles. Trivial compared to what I'd endured afterward. Chara was no threat to me now.

"Don't you even recognize me?" Chara asked, its voice twisting with hatred and contempt.

"It's me, your old friend…" I said. "Howdy. Did you fall? You're new here…"

Chara's face blanched.

"I hope you're more than an echo of the old timelines," it said. "Otherwise, this is going to be difficult."

"They're called echo flowers," I said. "You said you wouldn't laugh."

Chara approached slowly. Its eyes were shrewd and calculating. With one hand, it gestured in the air. My soul appeared, bright and red and perfect. Even after all this time, I longed to touch it.

"You recognize this, don't you?" Chara asked. "You want this back?"

"Yes," I said. It was a simple truth, and I'd forgotten any reason to lie.

"Good," said Chara. It considered my soul for one long minute, and then carefully siphoned off a bit of color. The red glow drifted toward me, entering my body, and filling me with the shadow of Determination. "Here's a little something to help you regain a bit of sanity. The rest must be earned."

A few things pieced together then, the true memories of the timeline where Chara and I had killed everyone. I remembered it destroying the world in spite of my efforts to stop. It took control. It was responsible for ending my life. It was still dangerous.

"What do you want, Chara?" I asked softly.

Chara grinned.

"Oh goodie, there is something left in you after all," it said. "That will make this so much easier. Don't you get it, Frisk? I need your help."

"I won't let you hurt my family or my friends," I said. "You can't force me to, either, or you'd have done it already."

"Do you want to spend the rest of eternity wandering in the void?" it asked, rolling its eyes at the question. "By now you know that you'll never die. Well, not in the traditional sense at least. Slowly, your memories will fade, replaced by thoughts from the void until you no longer recall a world beyond the darkness. You will forget your family and your friends. You will forget happiness and sadness. You will forget your own name. This is the only peace you will ever know. And I'll be here, waiting to reshape whatever comes crawling out of the darkness next time. Remember Frisk, I have your Determination now. No one can win against me."

I took a step back. The void was close now. It was my only escape, my only freedom.

"I'm here to offer a bargain," said Chara quickly. It was the hint of desperation that made me stop more than the words. In all our time together, Chara had always been the calm voice whispering to stay determined. This was…new. "Just the one. And your precious family and friends don't even need to suffer for it either. You can have your soul back. All I need is one small favor."

I met Chara's gaze blankly. The small amount of Determination it had given me was like a spark of life in my chest. But I knew Chara's treachery, and I feared what it could do to the happy ending I'd given my existence for.

"When I first met you, our souls were bound together," it said when my silence stretched on and on. "It was perfect, and your control over the timelines made us unstoppable. I thought that having your soul would mean destroying the world, but all I managed was the Underground. That's why I offered to buy it for a chance to reset. I didn't want the Underground. I wanted the world. And you were kind enough to get to the surface for me. But then you and your hope pushed me away. And just when I finally regained control, you went and died again. Then you left for the void. Do you know how. Long. I've. Been. Waiting?"

Chara laughed. Waiting, apparently, had not been kind to its state of mind.

"You've gone insane," I observed. Chara only giggled.

"As if you haven't," it said. "I can't reset the timeline without you. I'm trapped here just the same as you are. Oh, I tried to get out. I tried to reset. But I can't. There are errors. Errors upon errors. I thought for a while that I might have broken it forever. Wouldn't that have been fun? I want to erase the world, and I end up breaking it instead. Left to rot here forever in the dark. But, no, it's still there. It's not broken, at least, not completely. And I want out. I want to be free. So, here's the deal. You will continue the timeline and bring me another soul, and I return your soul to you. I won't even kill your precious monsters. The ones I really want are the humans."

"No," I said. The void was calling to me now. I leaned back. Escape. Freedom.

My soul for the happiness of the ones I loved.

"You fool," said Chara, its hand reaching out to claw at my front. I felt a shock go through my body as Chara clenched my soul tightly in its hand. It pulled me into the light, toward the words hanging in the air. So friendly. So inviting. So unspeakably terrible. "Since when were you in control?"

I felt my hand reach up. I tried to pull back, but my body moved on its own.

"No," I said. My hand trembled over the word Continue. It would take me back to the save point on the surface. Chara might not be able to control me for long, but finding and killing a human would be trivial at that point. It needed a human soul. It needed to get to the surface.

"You can't resist forever," said Chara. It clenched my soul, driving its claw-like fingernails into the delicate surface. My vision went red. I slammed my hand down, and the whole world shifted.

And I opened my eyes to see the light shining from above. I took a deep, shuddering breath and smelled the golden flowers that had broken my fall. Reset. Not Continue. Reset. I heard Chara's voice laughing in my ear.

"You think this can stop me? You've only delayed the inevitable. You can't hide in the Underground forever. Stay Determined, Frisk. You carry everyone's hopes and dreams. Especially mine…"

...

TBC

Note 2: In this interpretation of the Reset, Frisk's Determination cannot be completely stolen. Chara tried to reset the timeline using Frisk's soul, but it didn't work. It requires Frisk and the Determination working together before the Reset or Continue can occur. I hope this makes sense.


	3. Chapter 3: Home and Gone

Forgotten Soul

Chapter 3: Home and Gone

...

For a long time after waking, I just laid there in the flowers. I'd seen this sight more times than I could recall, both in reality and in waking dreams. The light was the same, the golden glow, the crumbling pillars. It was real in a way I couldn't quite comprehend anymore. I half expected to reach out and have my hand pass straight through the flowers. But it didn't. I traced a petal with my index finger and marveled at the silky feeling, at the way it bent under pressure, at the way glowing motes of dust settled on the stem. This is what it felt like to be alive again.

On most of my resets, I jumped up eagerly to meet Flowey and begin my adventure once again. There was always some new path to try, some new secret to uncover, some new friend to make. But I felt no drive now, no fear, no curiosity, and no Determination. I felt like I could lay here forever in the warmth and sunlight.

I closed my eyes.

"Stay Determined."

My soul grew near, and Determination filled my body. Chara. Of course it would not let me stay. It would never give me peace. I opened my eyes and climbed stiffly to my feet. Chara was waiting in the darkness, and I could feel it lingering on the edge of my soul, watching.

I limped through the shadows until I spotted a bright yellow flower popping up from the ground. Flowey went through his usual introductory spiel and pulled my soul out for battle. My soul was a muted red now, a shadow of its former self and my former strength. I frowned. It had been so long since I'd fought. I almost believed him when he said to catch the friendliness pellets. But instinct made me dodge.

"Flowey…" I said. My voice sounded strange, like it wasn't mine at all. "No…you…you're Asriel. Asriel."

Flowey's cheerful smile vanished. It was replaced by shock, which melted to anger, and then confusion, and finally landed on something I couldn't name.

"…Chara?" he asked hesitantly. There was fear and hope and longing all blended together in that one word, spoken like a wish and a prayer.

I knelt before him.

"Asriel," I said again. I reached out to touch him, and he flinched, ducking down and popping back up a few feet away. And then, for a single moment, he knelt before me, a frightened little goat boy in a green and yellow sweater. This was the Asriel I knew. But how? He shouldn't be in this form right now, should he? I tried to recall the timeline, but my memories were a mess of confusion and contradictions.

Then the moment passed, and he was a flower once more.

"No, you're not Chara," he said, though he didn't sound certain at all. "And…and what would it matter if you were? In this world, it's kill or be killed. That will never change, Chara. Do you understand? DIE!"

A ring of bullets formed and began to close in. His attack was always slow, as though he wanted me to fight back, as though he wanted me to escape. Did he know? Did he remember how this always went? Did he choose to accept the fire?

Toriel, Mom, saved me as she always did. She frowned at the singed flower as he fled his own mother. What would she say if she knew? I held my tongue as Toriel introduced herself. When she offered to show me the way, I nodded and stood slowly. I reached out with one trembling hand until she took it. Her paw was warm and safe and so familiar.

I broke down and cried then. For what, I wasn't sure. Maybe for my memories, or my love, or my failure. It didn't matter. Toriel held me close all the same. She whispered words of reassurance and smoothed my ruffled hair. I cried until my tears ran dry and I was left hiccupping softly into her dress. She smelled like fire and pie and home. She guided me through the ruins and showed me the puzzles. I knew them all, but I was slightly confused when the route across the spikes was different from what I remembered. I memorized this new path and guessed that my time in the darkness had altered my recollection somewhat.

Toriel gave me a cell phone and left me alone. I made my way through the ruins, relearning slowly and painfully how to dodge and talk and spare. The monsters of the ruins were relatively gentle, and I was not afraid. Eventually I made it home and hugged Toriel again. She led me inside, and I took a long nap. I expected Chara to wake me and force me to proceed right away, but it didn't. I spent weeks living in the ruins while playing with the monsters. In the morning, I'd run off to practice dodging during battle. In the evening, I'd return and Toriel would teach me how to read and other lessons like how to cook. I called her 'Mom'. I told her that I loved her. I cried sometimes, and she held me close. Things got better as I felt the broken pieces inside of me begin to mend, and I was slowly and steadily relearning how to be a human.

This wasn't the first time I'd spent a good long while with Toriel. After a few bad runs, I'd spent almost a year living with her before I was ready to move on. Still, I always tried to keep our time together short. She cried so much harder if she grew truly attached to me. The longer I stayed, the more she suffered when I finally left. But even as my guilt grew with every passing day, I stayed.

Chara allowed it.

I might have guessed that Chara was being kind, but I knew better. My only weapon against the demon child was my willingness to return to the void. Chara wanted me to remember why I loved this world and these people. It wanted me to grow too attached to turn away again. If I couldn't leave, I would have no power over it. These feelings kept me awake at night sometimes, but I could never resent Toriel for it. She was everything I needed right now, and that wasn't her fault.

There were a few strange occurrences around the house as well. One day the water sausages were replaced with golden flowers. They were gone when I returned that afternoon. Another day, as I was coming home covered in mud from a game with a few of the monsters, I thought I heard Asgore humming from the kitchen. His voice called out, saying that tea was almost ready. I crept slowly to the kitchen, the word 'Dad' hovering on my lips. But as I rounded the corner, I saw Toriel turn to tell me that the pie for dessert was done. I didn't mention it. I knew how painful reminders of Asgore could be.

What was going on?

Errors, Chara reminded me. Errors upon errors.

Still, Chara had no intentions of letting me live peacefully in the ruins forever. One night, two months after arriving, I woke to find myself standing in Toriel's bedroom with a kitchen knife clutched tightly in my hand. I felt a stab of raw terror before spotting Toriel sleeping peacefully in her bed. The statement was clear. Leave, or Chara would remove my reason for staying.

I gathered my things, making sure to pack a slice of butterscotch cinnamon pie. I stared down at the few belongings I could call my own in this world. Everything I had could fit into a tiny bag. I would get more and more things as I progressed through the Underground. I would make more and more friends. And with every step, fleeing into the void would get more difficult.

From far away, Chara laughed.

The next morning, I asked Toriel how to exit the ruins. She objected. She yelled. She cried. It was so much worse than I remembered. Maybe she could see how wounded I was, how very much I needed her. She stormed down to destroy the door to the rest of the Underground, and I followed her. But something was wrong. The hallway seemed to shrink as I ran. Within steps, I was doubled over. Then I was crawling. Then I was on my stomach, struggling to move and filled with the very real fear that the hallway might crush me completely. Navigating the corner was not easy, but I finally managed it.

I made it to the door as Toriel stood there. She was as tiny as the rest of the surroundings, and she didn't seem surprised at all that I had apparently become a giant able to fill the whole hall while laying down. She demanded that I prove my worthiness and pulled my soul out for a battle. It was the strangest battle I'd ever fought. I was too large to dodge anything. I laid there and accepted the fireballs one after the other until she cast them to the walls instead. There were timelines where she'd killed me accidentally, so I begged her to stop.

She was careful this time.

Eventually she accepted being spared. And, quite suddenly, I was back to my normal size once more. She knelt and hugged me, apparently not even noticing my drastic change. Instead she gave me a tearful goodbye, and I almost ran after her when she left. I wanted her to know how sorry I was and how much I wished that I could live here with her forever. But the words did not come. And Chara would not allow me to take a step that wasn't forward.

"Stay Determined."

I met Asriel again. Or Flowery. His body flickered between flower and child. His eyes were alternately condescending and filled with tears. He took one look at my face and asked me why. He was angry and he was sad. He said he would kill me. He said he was the prince of this world. He said he was sorry. I heard Chara call him a crybaby, but at this point I hardly cared. Eventually Flowey ducked away and I stood there until Chara spurred me on with a spike of Determination. As the door to the ruins slammed shut behind me, I knew there was only one way to go now.

The snow drifted down from the ceiling, fluffy and white and so beautiful. From this moment on, every monster that I encountered would be trying to take my soul to Asgore. To break the barrier and set everyone free. My life, my soul, in exchange for everyone's hopes and dreams. They didn't know that I'd already given it for them. They didn't know what would happen this time if I did it once again. Death, destruction, an entire world erased.

I didn't believe Chara's word for a moment that it would spare the monsters. It hated them too. It hated them for not being the horrors of human legend. It hated them because it died to set them free, and Asriel had chosen mercy. It hated them because they forgave humanity.

"But there's still something I hate more," Chara said in my ear.

Humans.

Me.

I walked forward into the snow, and Chara only laughed.

...

TBC


	4. Chapter 4: Lost Brothers

Forgotten Soul

Chapter 4: Lost Brothers

...

The cold hit me harder than I thought it would. My memories of snow did not include the sharp chill or the numbness rapidly spreading through my limbs. I shivered as I walked, bundled tight in my too-thin shirt. I wished Toriel had given me a scarf or sweater, and then I felt bad. Selfish. She'd already given me more than I could ever ask for, and in return I'd broken her heart. I shook away the thought and looked around at the trees. Some niggling sense of intuition was prickling the back of my neck. Something was about to happen. I would…meet someone? The dogs were in the snowy area. Skeletons too. Papyrus? No, I would meet him a little later. No, now I would meet…

There was a gate with wide bars set in the path. I stopped and examined it for a long moment until I heard the crunch of the snow, of heavy footsteps approaching. Something tight constricted in my chest, and I wasn't sure if it was hope or fear.

"Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

I turned slowly, and there he was, his had extended and a skeleton grin spread across his face.

"what's up, kid?" he asked when I stood frozen for too long. "you're not planning on leaving me hanging, are you?"

I raised my hand, but instead of shaking his, I touched his skull and traced his cheekbone down to his teeth. He flinched in surprise, his eyes going wide.

"You're…Sans?" I asked hesitantly. Daydreams and darkness did strange things to my memories, but I was more certain of this than just about anything else I'd faced in the Underground so far.

Sans was silent a moment more, then he laughed.

"famous, am I?" he asked. "yep, that's me, Sans the skeleton. you're a human, right? that's hilarious."

I dropped my hand as he settled back into his routine. He tucked the whoopee cushion into his pocket and led me through the gate with too-wide bars. I wondered if he remembered, and suddenly I was filled with dread. Had I imagined his ability to recall other timelines? I'd held out a small shred of hope that I might not be alone down here. I'd hoped…

"well, I'd tell you to hide behind this lamp, but…"

This break in the script made me look up. I could hear Papyrus approaching, but my usual lamp was…upside down? I looked at Sans, and he shrugged helplessly. Right, errors. I searched frantically for someplace to hide before deciding on the sentry station. One impressive swan-dive over the counter later, I listened to Sans and Papyrus chatter. But Papyrus sounded strange. He always lamented Sans's laziness, but there was a sting to his insults this time, a twist of revulsion that I'd never heard before. He sounded cruel, and Sans's joke responses were measured, almost unfriendly. I shifted uncomfortably, and a board squeaked.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Papyrus asked, and the menace in his voice made my blood run cold.

"hey, Pap, what's a skeleton's favorite language?" Sans asked. That was odd. Was he trying to distract Papyrus? Why? He'd always drawn his brother's attention toward my hiding places before.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR-"

"french, because they greet everyone with bone-jour, they start every meal with bone-appetit, and they end every conversation with bone-voyage!"

I had never heard that joke before. Since when did Sans know anything about other languages? I couldn't help but giggle, and covered my mouth quickly to muffle the sound.

"NO, I HEARD SOMETHING," Papyrus shouted, and I could hear his heavy footfalls approaching. I stopped giggling and curled into the corner more tightly. Papyrus had never killed me. No matter what happened, he was the only one to always spare my life. But something was wrong, and I felt afraid as his footfalls grew nearer.

"aw, Pap, don't be such a numb-SKULL, there's snow-body here but the two of us," said Sans, and the bite behind the words was unmistakable.

I heard Papyrus wheel around with a snarl of rage.

"DON'T FORGET, SANS. IF YOU WEREN'T MY BROTHER, I WOULD DUST YOU," he said. "I'M GOING TO RECALIBRATE MY PUZZLES. WHEN I CAPTURE A HUMAN, I WILL TEAR ITS SOUL FROM ITS BODY AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO LAZE ABOUT IN MY SHADOW FOREVER. IT'S THE ONLY THING YOU'RE GOOD FOR."

I listened intently to the crunch of his retreating steps. There was a long minute of silence before Sans called out softly, telling me it was safe to emerge. But I didn't move. The sentry station was warm, and I curled in on myself more. Even if it held only the illusion of safety, it was better than the cold, strange world out there. Soon, Sans peeked over the counter to see me huddled there and sighed.

"you look bone-tired, kid," he said. I nodded. Last night's incident with Toriel and the knife had seen to that. I looked over the condiments and selected the ketchup.

"You like ketchup?" I asked as I handed it to him. Sans took it as he sat down on the floor beside me. His bulk blocked out most of the cold, and I felt a little better.

"yep, and you and I have a lot to 'ketchup' on now that Alphys can't see or hear us."

The wave of relief was enough to make me squeeze my eyes shut.

"You remember?" I asked.

"yep, but you, on the other hand seem to have a few missing details," he said. I nodded. "and a bit of missing Determination." I nodded again. "and a missing soul." I hesitated, and then I nodded. Sans sighed.

I felt something in the world twist then, and my eyes snapped open. For a moment, I thought Sans had teleported away, but looking down at the ground made me gape a little. Sans was still here, but he was tiny, like a toy version of himself. It was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen in my life, and I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face. I wanted to poke him, to see if he was as soft and cuddly as he looked.

"you know, this is particularly terrible because I don't think I can claim to big-boned anymore," he said. "little help here, kid?"

Sans was gazing mournfully at the ketchup bottle, which now towered over him, far too large for him to use. Still smiling, I reached over and held it for him with the nozzle pointed at his mouth. He gave me a thumbs-up, and I squeezed the bottle. A wave of ketchup almost knocked him over, and I giggled softly as he wiped the condiment from his face. But as Sans finished cleaning himself, the moment of levity passed.

"what did you do, kid?" the small-Sans asked heavily. "what happened out there?"

I turned away. I'd hoped for a friend, but after everything I'd done, I couldn't expect anything besides anger and disgust. Still, I'd given everything to stop Chara once, and as long as Sans was willing to fight beside me to stop Chara again, I could live with his hate. So I told him everything. Sans listened in silence as I talked and talked and talked. I told him about the timelines where I pried out every secret, about the timeline where I killed us all, about selling my soul, about remaking the world, about Chara, about dying, about the dark and dark and dark, and about the deal. I rambled on and on, a near endless stream of words and thoughts. I was used to this type of recital, but unlike in the darkness, here I grew tired, and my mouth grew dry and my voice grew rough.

I stopped.

My eyelids were heavy, and I buried my face in my arms.

"I tried," I said at last. "I tried to give you a happy ending. I tried to die. Please, I'm so sorry. I really, really tried."

"I know, kid," he said, running his tiny bony fingers through my hair. "but that doesn't quite explain everything."

I knew what he was talking about.

"The errors," I said. "Errors upon errors. Chara made them when it tried to restart the timeline."

"did it say how to stop them?" Sans asked carefully. I shook my head. "of course not. do you know how long they last?"

I hesitated before answering. Papyrus had obviously been affected somehow, but Sans hadn't seemed surprised to hear his brother's cruel words. That implied a much longer error than anything I'd ever encountered. I told him about Flowey turned Asriel, about Toriel turned Asgore, and about the size shifting during battle.

"But nothing lasted for very long," I insisted. "A few minutes, maybe a few hours for the flowers in the hallway. How long has Papyrus been like…that?"

Sans's eyes were completely black.

"two weeks," he said. "Papyrus isn't the only one. everyone in the underground has been affected somehow. sometimes it's just for a minute, sometimes…not. places too. the river around snowdin was replaced by lava yesterday. still didn't manage to melt the snow. the kids were swimming in it, even. no one seems to notice when things change, or when they change back."

"What can we do?" I asked tiredly. The world was beginning to blur, and I blinked to clear my vision. Sans was staring out at the world beyond our little hideaway. He slipped into the crook of my arm and settled down, looking fully prepared to settle in for a nice long nap. That seemed like a wonderful idea from my exhausted perspective.

"dunno, kid, dunno," he said, sounding as tired as I felt.

"Do you hate me?" I asked suddenly. Sans and Papyrus were, perhaps, the truest friends I'd ever known. Papyrus had no memory of the timelines, so befriending him again would have been easy if not for his mysterious error. I was afraid of him now, of what he intended to do. There was no mercy in his voice. But I'd become friends with people determined to kill me before. Maybe we could still become friends if I found a way to make him kind again. But Sans was another story altogether. I'd stolen life from him. I'd stolen the surface from him. He had every right to hate me, and no amount of resetting would fix it.

"do you know how long you were gone?" Sans asked. I shook my head. There was no measuring time in the void. "Nine hundred and ninety-two years." The shock was enough for me to raise my head and stare at him. Surely that was a joke. Almost a thousand years in the void? But Sans was looking at me seriously. "after you died, I waited for time to reset. when it didn't, I began to believe that you were truly gone. Tori dedicated the surface celebration to you. Frisk day. it's a day for friendship and gifts and resolutions to be better. Papyrus always made special Frisk-day puzzles for the little kids. I think you would have liked them. anyway, after seven hundred years or so, Papyrus was killed. I built a machine to call out into the void. I begged you to come back, to reset time so that I could see my brother again. I thought you couldn't hear me."

If possible, I felt even worse. Sans had spent the last three hundred years hoping for a reset, and when one finally occurred, an error stole his brother away just as surely as death had. Maybe this was even worse, to see someone walking around with his brother's face and knowing he was gone.

"I heard you," I said. "But I couldn't get back. I was lost and alone."

"I know, kid," he said, patting my arm without opening his eyes.

"I came back," I said, an apology, an admission, and a defense all in one.

My eyelids slid closed, too heavy to stay open. I felt Sans's hand on my cheek as I drifted off.

"yeah, kid. you came back. and you know what? you're not alone anymore."

...

Note: Discontinued.


End file.
